02/27/2014 09:00 AM Senate STATE AFFAIRS

            SJR 18-FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
9:04:56 AM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR DYSON announced that SJR 18 is before the committee.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
9:05:05 AM                                                                                                                    
TYLER  BELK,  Staff,  Senator Dyson,  Alaska  State  Legislature,                                                               
Juneau, Alaska, read an overview as follows:                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
     For the  past seven years, the  U.S. federal government                                                                    
     has  operated outside  of the  constraints of  what our                                                                    
     founding     fathers    had     envisioned.    Inherent                                                                    
     overspending,  over  extended  use  of  regulation  and                                                                    
     enforcement   jurisdiction,   and   unreasonably   long                                                                    
     service  terms  of  federal  government  officials  are                                                                    
     fused several ways in which  our national government is                                                                    
     moving  outside of  its designed  blueprint. Aiming  to                                                                    
     mitigate   a  federal   government  that   exceeds  its                                                                    
     enumerated  powers, our  founding fathers  added a  key                                                                    
     provision of the Constitution that  would allow for the                                                                    
     states  to  rein in  and  control  any move  to  expand                                                                    
     federal government  beyond its intended  means. Article                                                                    
     V grants states  the power to call for  a Convention of                                                                    
     the States  to amend  the Constitution in  a controlled                                                                    
     and topic-specific  manner. This ability to  call for a                                                                    
     convention is  a method  to rein  in and  alleviate the                                                                    
     aforementioned problems. A Convention  of States is not                                                                    
     a  Constitutional  Convention.  The scope  and  subject                                                                    
     matter  of a  Convention  of States  is controlled  and                                                                    
     limited by  what the applications  call for. SJR  18 is                                                                    
     the  first step  in a  long process  for a  convention.                                                                    
     Through the Article V process,  two thirds or 34 of the                                                                    
     50  states  must  call  for a  convention  based  on  a                                                                    
     similar  application. Congress  then  must  call for  a                                                                    
     convention  once   those  applications   are  received.                                                                    
     Delegates, who  are chosen  in a  manner decided  on by                                                                    
     the states, will design and  debate amendments aimed at                                                                    
     the topic.  In this  case, imposing  fiscal constraints                                                                    
     on  the  federal  government, limiting  the  power  and                                                                    
     jurisdiction  of the  federal government,  and limiting                                                                    
     the terms  of office  officials will  be the  topic. If                                                                    
     the   convention   validly   proposes   one   or   more                                                                    
     amendments, Article  V requires Congress to  select one                                                                    
     of two  modes of ratification. The  Congress may decide                                                                    
     that amendments  be submitted to  the states,  then the                                                                    
     state  legislatures,  or  they  will  demand  that  the                                                                    
     states  call for  special amendment  conventions within                                                                    
     the  states,  similar  to  how we  did  with  the  21st                                                                    
     Amendment to  repeal prohibition.  SJR 18 is  a portion                                                                    
     of step  1 of the  Article V convention process;  it is                                                                    
     Alaska's  formal application  calling for  a Convention                                                                    
     of the  States. Essentially, this resolution  is Alaska                                                                    
     moving into cue for an Article V convention.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR DYSON asked if anyone in the room would like to testify.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
9:08:01 AM                                                                                                                    
ROY CARLSON, representing himself, Wasilla, Alaska, noted that                                                                  
he is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and Vietnam                                                                        
veteran. He read a statement as follows:                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
     I do  not intend my  words to  be partisan in  any way.                                                                    
     What  I am  saying has  been  going on  for many  years                                                                    
     through    different    party   administrations.    The                                                                    
     resolution  before you  is  truly non-partisan.  During                                                                    
     the Constitutional  Convention, it was argued  that the                                                                    
     amendment process  did not  address the  possibility of                                                                    
     an out  of control federal government,  they recognized                                                                    
     that  Congress would  not  pass  an amendment  limiting                                                                    
     their own  power, so  they added  another way  to amend                                                                    
     the Constitution  and put  that power  in the  hands of                                                                    
     state legislatures,  that of  course is  your committee                                                                    
     and  your colleagues  in  the  Alaska Legislature.  You                                                                    
     have  a  necessary  and awesome  responsibility.  As  a                                                                    
     solider, I  have seen  tyranny, I have  seen it  in the                                                                    
     eyes of  the children  who are  not carefree  and laugh                                                                    
     when  they are  at play.  You see  it in  the faces  of                                                                    
     their parents  who are afraid for  themselves and their                                                                    
     children, they  are afraid to  talk to you for  fear of                                                                    
     reprisal  by  their  government  or  terrorist  groups.                                                                    
     Also, I have talked to  a number of immigrants from the                                                                    
     former  Soviet Union,  Cuba, and  other countries  with                                                                    
     tyrannical governments  and with  a unified  voice they                                                                    
     say, "Wake  up, don't you understand  what is happening                                                                    
     to you,"  they see  it because  they have  been through                                                                    
     it. The  federal government  is out  of control  and we                                                                    
     know from history that a  mere change of administration                                                                    
     is not going to change that  and so I ask you to please                                                                    
     pass SJR 18.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR DYSON thanked Mr. Carlson for his service to the nation.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
9:10:24 AM                                                                                                                    
DAVID EICHLER, State Director, The Convention of State Project,                                                                 
North Pole, Alaska, stated his support for SJR 18.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
9:10:59 AM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR DYSON announced that SJR 18 will be held in committee.